BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Vince Tucker of Lawtey was inducted into Florida First Coach Softball’s Hall of Fame in recognition of his effort in helping to create opportunities for local players.
“I never ever expected anything like that,” Tucker said. “That was a huge surprise and a huge honor.”
Tucker’s involvement with the sport began when his oldest daughter, Haylee Tucker, began playing in the spring of 2001. Tucker’s involvement was a lot more than simply being a supportive parent. Over the course of 20 years, he helped direct more than 600 tournaments and college showcases. In teaming up with Florida First Coast Softball, he helped Jacksonville host more than 100 such events.
“It was quite a journey,” Tucker said.
Tucker, who’s also the father of Bradford High School Head Softball Coach Kaylan Taylor, recalled how he would help coach his daughters’ teams, which included basketball and volleyball as well as softball.
“I think I was actually head coaching four teams at one time,” he said.
That sounds like a major time commitment, but it was worth it.
“I loved to coach,” Tucker said. “That made it a lot of fun.”
When it came to the sport of softball, the Tucker family and families of other area girls who played found themselves having to travel to play in competitive tournaments. Tucker said they’d travel to Orlando or even make trips out of state to Georgia and South Carolina.
“We’d go to Orlando and see five, six, eight teams from our area and wind up playing three or four of them,” Tucker said.
Eventually, the question was asked: “Why can’t we do that here?”
As Tucker put it, “It just kind of grew from there.”
A lot of the work in putting on a tournament or a college showcase takes place in the week leading up to the event, Tucker said, though the day of the event can be hectic, depending on the weather.
“When you get to Saturday, you can almost put it in cruise control,” Tucker said. He paused for a few seconds before adding, “Until the rain hits. That’s when everything goes haywire. That’s when all of a sudden you start going in about 46 different directions.
“That’s always the toughest part — dealing with weather.”
In organizing softball events, Tucker said he worked alongside a lot of great people, including his own family, which made it easier for him.
“I had so much support,” Tucker said. “I didn’t feel like I was spending so much time away from the family. We were all out there together. I think my wife (Michelle) and I were out there for every anniversary.”
Tucker said his wife was always there to help out wherever needed. He’s received support from both of his daughters over the years as well as son-in-law Joey Taylor.
“Poor fellow,” Tucker said of Taylor, adding, “I was about to kill him, I think. He’d work all week, and then I’d beat him up on the weekends.”
Softball has grown in popularity since Tucker and others worked to put on local events. That’s been fun to watch, obviously, for someone who’s the father of two daughters who played. Tucker said it’s amazing to see how many people now follow the sport.
Regarding tournaments, Tucker said it’s not unusual to see two or three taking place at the same time at the same place.
“It’s really grown over the last 15, 20 years from kind of something that was, ‘Let’s keep the kids occupied,’ to now being kind of a big deal,” Tucker said.
Tucker said he’s enjoyed witnessing the kind of passion softball players have. He said even if a game is in a rain delay, players are in the dugout cheering and having fun.
“The atmosphere is just really good out there,” he said.
He had the opportunity to witness quite an atmosphere when the Union County High School softball team reached the state tournament in 2016. Tucker’s daughter Kaylan was a pitcher on that team. Tucker said Union had crowds of people 6-8 deep throughout the playoffs.
“To me, that’s probably the best sporting experience I’ve been a part of,” he said, adding, “Everybody in the community was there.”
Now, Tucker hopes he gets the chance to witness his daughter Kaylan take Bradford High School to the state tournament. If it happens, he expects the same kind of support his daughter’s UCHS team received.
“We’ve got a lot of support with the community and everybody getting behind the team,” Tucker said.
Tucker helps his daughter with the BHS team (as does Kaylan’s husband, Joey), but he admitted she’s got quite the handle on things, including all the administrative-type duties that have nothing to do with actually coaching.
“She does amazingly well,” Tucker said. “I thought I was going to have to tote a big part of that load, but she does incredibly well with making sure everything is put together.”
It looks as if Tucker will always be coaching something. He has three grandchildren — all boys, which gives him a different kind of experience after raising two daughters. He’s helping coach soccer, which two of his grandsons play. The other grandson is “raring to start playing something” when he gets old enough.
As he looks back on his involvement in helping create softball events for youth in this area, Tucker said he saw his efforts and the efforts of others as certainly being worthwhile.
“Giving the kids something to do is always a good thing, especially in those teenage years,” he said. “Kids just need something organized to do.”
Tucker is a believer that such opportunities transcend the world of sports.
“Team sports really teach you a lot about life,” he said.
